By Ebi Kesiena
Nigeria’s Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu has called on state governments and state Houses of Assembly to establish, domesticate and fully implement disability laws across the country.
The Minister made the call when she declared open the 2023 International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the Sheu Yaradua Centre, Abuja on Thursday.
She also called for significant improvement on the budget for the Commission for Disabled Persons in Nigeria, saying under the Renewed Hope Agenda, there is no segregation.
According to Dr Edu, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already directed that 10% of all the intervention programmes of the Ministry be given to the PWDs, pointing out that the president runs an inclusive administration.
“President Tinubu is prepared and committed to doing everything possible to see that PWDs take centre stage in our country’s development.
“Hence he began by signing the African Charter for Persons with Disability, which ensures that your rights have been protected. We are celebrating today five years of having a law in Nigeria that protects you.
“I want to use this medium to call on our state governments to establish, and for those who have established already, to domesticate persons with disabilities law and Commissions across the country”,
Dr Edu said “Doing this will give PWDs equal rights and voices as citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and will enable us to have seamless programmes that can get to the grassroots in all the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria.
“We have the president’s backing, we must protect the persons with disability so we are calling strongly for the creation of all the accessibility mediums for persons with disability in all Public and Private buildings in the country.”
On the need to improve the budget of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, the Minister said: “The budget allocation to the Disability Commission needs significant improvement from the 2024 budget moving forward.
“On behalf of 35.5 million Nigeria who fall within the PWDs category, we are pleading with the very dynamic and uncommon leadership we have at the National Assembly to please improve on the budget for the Commission for Disabled Persons in Nigeria. We plead with NASS members to channel some of their constituency projects to persons with Disability.”
Dr Edu, at the event, made a symbolic presentation and distribution of thousands of assistive devices to people with disabilities which will be shared across the country, to states and LGAs assuring them of President Tinubu’s solidarity.
Some of the devices include Orbit readers, collapsible guide claim, iPhone Pro Max with optical characters, typewriters jaw screen readers, laptops with jaws, the talking watch, digital magnifiers, low vision lamps, the charisma share water, the beauty blocks for CWA, the talking toys for CWA, the doorbell for the deaf, the speech to text for the deaf, the alerting devices, the digital hearing aids, the HP laptops, sewing machines, hairdryers, air cleaners, motorised wheelchairs of different types, clutches among others.
